


The Life We've Built

by Wha0897



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Domestic Laura Hollis/Carmilla Karnstein, Engagement, F/F, Fluff, vlog au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 10:44:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5582656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wha0897/pseuds/Wha0897
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura and Carmilla are successful vloggers with three million subscribers and five years of love between them. This is the story of how they get engaged.</p>
<p>HUGE shootout to @clarkesgriffins on tumblr for letting me write this based on http://clarkesgriffins.tumblr.com/post/136039763018/au-in-which-laura-and-carmilla-run-a-successful</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Life We've Built

**Day 1464: BAE IS HOME!!!!**

In the middle of a brightly lit kitchen, Laura stands with her arm outstretched, clutching a vlog camera.

“Good morning gentle viewers, it is 6:45 am and I am getting ready to leave to go pick up Carmilla from the airport.” Her voice is laced with sleep as she talks to the camera but smiles anyway for her 3 million viewers. She walks around the kitchen picking up her keys, a travel coffee cup, and her wallet before walking out of the house.

x

“Don’t worry guys, even though I’m vlogging and driving it’s ok because Carm got me a mount for the camera for the car so all of you in the comments can stop yelling at me for risking my life.” She takes a pause to focus on making a left turn before she speaks again.

“I’m really excited to see Carm, it’s been two weeks since she’s been gone. I know we didn’t really address this before Carm left but she was going back home for some family bonding and I couldn’t go because I needed to do some work here but it’s ok because she lands in about 30 minutes and I’m so excited to see her.” Laura’s eyes are fixed on the road but a soft smile lingers on her lips as she talks about seeing her girlfriend.

“I think this is the longest that we’ve gone without being with each other. We’ve been together for about five years now and we would really only go about three or four days at max without seeing each other.” Laura pauses again, this time taking a right turn.

“Did we ever tell you guys how this whole vlog channel started? I think we might’ve mentioned it in a video once but for you guys that are new to the Hollstein channel I guess I can say it again since I still have a little bit of a drive before I get to the airport to pick up bae.”

The camera angle changes slightly, but shows Laura on a long stretch of highway, once again looking ahead towards the road instead of at the camera anchored on the dashboard of the car. “Sorry about that guys, I hit a bump and you fell over. Anyways, Carm and I started this channel as a way to keep my dad up to date with what was going on. He was a little freaked out that Carmilla and I were moving in together after just a year together, and he was even more paranoid that we were staying in Styria. I can’t blame him, I think I would be freaked out too if my daughter was living in a strange place with her roommate-turned-lover, so I came up with the idea for these videos. I was so used to doing them back at university that doing these videos seemed logical to me, but Carm was hesitant at first. I don’t know if you guys picked this up about her, but she tends to keep things private whereas I’m pretty open about everything. But when I explained that the videos were for my dad to make sure that we were still alive she couldn’t argue. Then he started to forward the videos to the rest of the Hollis clan-which is a lot of people- and they would share those videos on Facebook. Then more and more people were watching us and this became a thing. We gained an audience of some incredibly amazing people and made friends with other people who vlog that are some of our best friends now and this became our lives and I sometimes it doesn’t seem real. I love this, I love this job and talking to you guys and meeting you guys and we can’t thank you guys enough for the love and support over the years.”

The car finally stops and Laura’s face pulls into a huge grin that reaches from ear to ear. “Time to go get my woman, see you in a mo’!”

x

Carmilla has one hand laced with Laura’s as she sits in the driver’s seat this time and Laura fills the once empty passenger seat.

“Hey guys.” A simple greeting leaves Carmilla’s mouth as she begins the journey back home. The sun has risen completely at this point, illuminating both girls in the car.

“Miss me?” She smirks.

“I know I did.” Laura leans over the center and places a lingering kiss to Carmilla’s cheek, to which she gets a soft smile in return. The small gesture screams that the two are completely in love, even after the many years they’ve been together.

“I missed you too, love.” A quick look is made towards Laura before she focuses on the road again.

x

“Hey creampuffs,” the camera opens on Laura again, laying down in dark blue bedsheets with Carmilla curled into her side.

“It’s a couple hours later and we just took a nap. Carm’s still jet lagged and I haven’t really slept since she’s been gone so sorry for the short video today, but we’ll be back to our regular length videos tomorrow now that dark and broody is back from her trip and can contribute to the videos again.” Laura turns her head so her forehead is touching Carmilla’s.

“Shhh, sleepy time cutie.” A sweet kiss was planted on Laura’s lips before she turns back to the vlog camera in her hand.

She runs her free hand through her hair before she starts talking again. “It’s three in the afternoon, babe. We’ve got to fill the people in on our events of the day.”

A muffled response comes from the brunette. “If we fill people in on the events of our day this video would certainly get flagged for sexual content.”

“Carm!” A gasp and a giggle leave Laura’s lips. “My dad still watches these videos you know.” She turns her head to face her girlfriend once again, bringing the fingers of her left hand to trace over Carmilla’s jawline. Carmilla sits up so she is leaning on her elbow, her hand holding up her head as she addresses the camera.

“Mr. Hollis and the audience watching right now, I hate to be the one to break this to you but Laura Hollis and I are engaging in certain explicit activities.” Laura is letting out a nervous giggle now, face turning redder by the second.

“It’s so scandalous that a 24 year old successful woman with an incredibly breathtaking seductive girlfriend would engage in such activities,” Laura has now passed the camera to Carmilla and hides her face in Carmilla’s chest.

“You’re so mean.”

“I beg to differ cupcake.”

She smiles down at the girl pressed into her chest before looking up at the lens again. Laura fixes herself so she can look at Carmilla again.

“Come on seductress of the night, it’s time for us to get up and be productive.”

“Hmmmm, no.” Laura furrowed her eyebrows.

“Why not?”

“Because,” Carmilla leaned down to give Laura a not-so-innocent kiss. “I don’t really feel like sharing you right now.”

A few more PG-13 rated kisses are exchanged and the image is cut-off.

x

“Uh, hi guys, so it’s dark and nighttime here, as you can see,” the camera pans to a starlit sky from a two-story balcony.

“Carm and I cleaned the house up a bit and ate dinner-well I ate and Carmilla slurped down some blood bags-but now we’re just sitting out here enjoying the beautiful view.”

“It’s nothing compared to you, sweetheart.” Laura rolls her eyes at the flirtation from an off-screen Carmilla.

“Smooth, baby.”

“Only my best for the best.”

“So that’s it for tonight I guess, thanks for watching! We’ll see you tomorrow creampuffs! Say bye Carm.”

The camera swings over to Carmilla who is sitting in a chair with a cup of blood in her hand. She gave a quick wave and a smirk.

“Bye Carm.”

Laura giggled and the end slide played which concluded the end of the video.

XXXX

**Day 1465: I HAVE A QUESTION**

“Welcome to another day in the Hollis-Karnstein home. It is early in the morning and Laura is out picking up cookies. And since we have a little time to ourselves and I’m the one that is going to be editing this later I can tell you my plan for today.”

Carmilla walks into the living room and sits down on a dark brown couch. She grabs one of the white pillows and puts it on her lap as she sets the camera down so she’s focused in the middle of the frame. The way she plays with the edges of the pillow is a tell-tale sign that she’s nervous.

“So I know that Laura told you guys that I was visiting my family for some bonding time but that actually isn’t the complete truth. I did go back home to Styria to see my family, but I went to tell them that I am going to ask Laura to marry me. Went and asked her father for his blessing too. I know I usually come off as intense and broody and stuff but I want to be really personal with you guys for a second.”

She fidgets around from a couple seconds before pulling out a small ring shaped box.

“It’s in here. My potential future is in here. I’m so scared. I’m scared that she’s going to say no, I’m scared of what the future holds for us, I’m scared that I not good enough for her-because gods know that she deserves the world. I’m scared of a lot of things really, but I’m not so scared when I’m with her. She’s the love of my life-death?-and I want to spend every minute that I possibly can with her. She’s it you guys, she’s the one for me, and I’ve known ever since I walked into that stupid dormroom.”

Carmilla is looking at the floor now, nodding slightly with the words coming out of her mouth.

“I’m gonna ask her tonight. I need to. And it has to be perfect, because she deserves perfect.”

Carmilla slides the ring box back into her sweatpants pocket and reaches foreword for the camera.

“I’ll show the ring later but for right now I need to make sure that my sister Mattie has all of the details for tonight. My little cupcake has no idea what I have in store for her. I’ll check in with you guys later.” With a smirk on her face Carmilla signs off.

x

“So I know that Carmilla will see this footage but it’s okay because these are for when I get home.”

The camera swings down to show the dozen roses Laura was holding in her left hand, along with some groceries. “They were selling the flowers and it’s been awhile since I was able to do something romantic for my beautiful girlfriend so I grabbed some for her. Pretty much nailed it on the head with this one, her favorite color is red and roses are her favorite type of flower. I’m definitely going to be getting brownie points for this one guys,” Laura winks at the camera as she loads her things into the back of her car.

Laura gets into the driver’s seat and shuffles around until the camera is hooked to the dashboard again and she has put on her seatbelt.

“It’s still kind of early in the morning here and I don’t think Carmilla is even awake yet but today is going to be a good day, I can feel it. Carm and I are going to be planning a vacation for the two of us.”

Laura is driving around now, making her way back to their house.

“We decided that we needed to take a vacation for just the two of us and go somewhere surrounded by water. It’s been such a long time since Carmilla and I had some time to ourselves that this trip is going to be good for us. Maybe somewhere like Hawaii or Bali or Aruba.”

Laura sighed happily as she pulled the car back into her driveway. “Let’s go see if she’s awake, huh?”

Carrying all of her items from the car in one hand, Laura slipped in the front door and made her way to the kitchen to set her things down and grab the flowers. She glances around the surrounding rooms seeing no sight of her girlfriend anywhere.

“My lady must still be in bed. Breakfast and flowers in bed it is I guess.” Laura grabs a blood bag and the roses, then makes her way up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

“Honey-bear, are you awake?” As the door opens Laura and the camera are greeted to the sight of six-dozen roses placed around the room with Carmilla holding one single rose in her hand on the edge of the bed. A second camera on the other side of the room captures the sight of Laura’s jaw dropping.

“Oh Carm, they’re beautiful.” She looks touched by the action and crosses her arm over her chest as if she were trying to clutch her heart. She looks down at the flowers in her own hand, then back up to Carmilla who hasn’t moved from the bed.

“Well now I just feel stupid.” Laura’s camera catches Carmilla scrunching up her eyebrows in a confused look.

“I wanted to do something romantic for you but how can I compare to this?” Laura gestures around the room at the red and pink roses.

“Oh my sweet Laura, everything you do for me is romantic, whether you realize it or not.” The camera on the dresser watches as Carmilla gets up and walks towards Laura, pulling her into a waltz. The audio is barely heard through the microphone on the camera but it’s there.

“My love, I’m sorry I was gone for so long, but I’m home now, and I want to show you how much you are loved.” They’ve retracted back to swaying back and forth, bodies pressed against one another.

“I love you so much.” Laura whispers back and Carmilla hums in response. They are filmed for about ten seconds more, music playing in the background as the image is transitioned to Carmilla alone once again.

x

“Hey again guys, I’m outside right now, preparing everything for tonight.” The clip shows Carmilla on a rooftop that had a small table in the corner, two wooden seats, a large plush lounge chair on the other side of the roof placed in front of a projector screen. Unlit lights and candles were scattered around the area, even on top of a small fire pit in the middle of the roof. Carmilla begins to pace back and forth as she starts talking again.

“So this is it, everything is pretty much set for tonight. I’ve set some cameras up to capture the moment I ask her.” Carmilla turns to each hidden camera before going back to the one in her hand.

“Perry has made a bunch of chocolate chip cookies for dessert after her favorite meal from her favorite restaurant which I’m going to keep to myself if you guys don’t mind. Laf hooked me up with the flowers and Danny and Kirsch have been bringing all the furniture up here over the past week. Will is going to set up all the food for us before we get here. I’m so nervous. Excited, but really really nervous. I can’t waste too much time though, it’s almost time for me to get ready. I’ll be back in a few.”

x

The camera opens on Laura, who is sitting on the couch and the TV is softly playing in the background.

“What’s up you guys? It’s almost dinner time here and Carmilla is no-where to be found. She said she needed to run some errands but she left at noon and still hasn’t made it back yet.”

Her face flashes concern for a second but it fades into a yawn.

“I hope she’s not out getting me things. Whenever Carmilla goes away, even if I go away with her, she gets me cute little things to ‘remind me how much she loves me’, but she alone is a constant reminder of how amazing love can be. I know you guys don’t see it too much because she has only now started to warm up to PDA but she’s the sweetest and softest and most caring person I’ve ever met. And just when you think she can’t get any better she does and I am so lucky to call her mine.”

Laura giggles but is interrupted by the door opening. She turns the camera to the intruder who was actually just Carmilla coming home from her errands. She pecks Laura’s lips as she joins Laura on the couch, slouching as much as she could into the furniture.

“Hello to you too, pretty lady.”

Carmilla rolls her head over to give Laura a funny face. “Get dressed up real nice cupcake, I’m taking you out.”

Carmilla pats Laura’s thigh then gets up and disappears up the stairs. Laura expresses a shocked face that melts into a shy half smile.

“This girl is gonna kill me you guys.” Laura says as she shakes her head.

x

“It’s almost time for me to call William and make sure he’s getting everything ready. Luckily for me he agreed to let me use the roof of his art studio to propose.” Carmilla whispers as she paces the kitchen. The image shows that she’s wearing black leather pants and a black corset, with matching black heels on her feet.

“Baby!?”

“Yeah hun?” Carmilla walked out towards the bottom of the stairs.

“Where’s my mascara?”

“On the counter next to your toothpaste.” The sound of rumbling was present for about two seconds before Laura called back to her girlfriend.

“Got it! Thanks babe!”

Carmilla chuckled softly and turned back to the camera. “I swear that girl would lose herself if I wasn’t here.”

x

The image transitions to Carmilla and Laura sat at the small table in the corner. Camera angles switch to the three different shots: one focused on Laura’s face, one getting the side profile of the girls, and one getting the whole shot of their night. Laura is stuffing what seems to be a chocolate chip cookie into her mouth. Carmilla looks nervous. Her hands are placed on her lap.

“Carm this night is amazing.” Laura says once she has polished off the cookie. She wipes her hand before looking up at the brunette.

“Well I hope that it’s going to get a whole lot better.”

Laura furrows her eyebrows in confusion.

Carmilla gets up from her chair and kneels down on one knee in front of her girlfriend. The camera is positioned so both of them are perfectly centered in frame. Laura gasps and her eyes go wide as Carmilla grabs her left hand.

“Laura Hollis, you are the most beautiful woman that I have ever known in all my years on this Earth. Ever since we shared that dorm room at Silas, I’ve always known it was you. You are the one I’ve been waiting for. You’re headstrong, and caring, and for some reason you chose to love a mess of a monster like me. I don’t know how you did it, but you changed me. You made me want to be a better person so that I could be good enough to be yours. This life that we’ve built, I want it forever. I want to be with you forever.”

Both girls are crying at this point, with Laura holding her free hand over her mouth.

“I’ve got a billion of things to say but all my thoughts are jumbled in my head right now.” Carmilla chuckles and wipes a tear away from Laura’s face.

“Oh Carm..” Laura does the same for Carmilla.

“Anyways, my sweet cupcake, I can’t promise you a lot of money, or that things are always going to be easy, but I can promise you that you’ll have me. I can promise you I will be right by your side to protect you and love you and be as whipped as ever.” Carmilla lets go of Laura’s hand and slides the ring box out of her pocket, opening it to reveal a shiny, modest diamond in the middle of a silver band.

“Laura, will you marry me?”

Laura immediately leans in and crashes her lips against Carmilla’s, pulling them both up so both girls are in a standing position.

“Yes, of course yes, you adorable idiot.”

The girls kiss a few more times before Carmilla pulls back to slip the ring onto Laura’s finger. She wraps her arms around the smaller girl, burying her nose in the girl’s hair. “I love you. I love you so much.” Carmilla mumbled into Laura’s head.

Laura pulls back and puts their foreheads together. “I love you so much too Carm. You make me so happy. I want forever with you.”

The image fades to black as Laura pulls Carmilla down for a sweet, loving kiss.

x

The girls are tangled up in each other on their bed, with Laura holding the camera up. Camilla shifts her head so she can look into the lens too.

“So it’s a little bit later and I’m sorry I didn’t film anything, but Carm kinda distracted me.”

“I would just like to say that I filmed everything so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

“You filmed it?” Laura pulled back slightly.

“Of course I did. For posterity and all that. Plus I promised your dad.”

It took Laura a second to put all the pieces together.

“That’s why you scheduled to go back when I had stuff to do here, isn’t it. Because you wanted to ask my dad for his blessing and you couldn’t do it if I were there.” Laura nodded along with her words.

Carmilla hummed in response. “I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve, love.”

“You really know how to woo a girl, don’t you?” Instead of a response, Carmilla pressed her lips to Laura’s temple.

“I am death, drawn under a fair maid’s feet.”

Laura scoffed. “No you’re not.”

“No, but I’d do anything for you.” Carmilla reached across to push some hair back behind Laura’s ear.

“And I you, love.”

Both girls leaned in for a soft kiss, Carmilla reaching up and covering the camera lens as she deepened the kiss.

Giggles and gross kissing noises can be heard through the darkness.

“Forever, Carm.”

“Forever, cupcake.”


End file.
